Sunrise in the Santa Rita Mountains of Southern Arizona. Tohono O'odham runner Marlinda Francisco receives a blessing from Austin Nuñez, Chairman of the San Xavier District of the Tohono O'odham Nation. As Marlinda begins her run to protest the threat of an open-pit copper mine here, we learn about the Tohono O'odham ancestral connection to this land. Along the way, we meet Gayle Hartmann, a non-profit leader who has resisted the mining operation for years.

Director's Statement

Watching Marlinda Francisco running through the homelands of her people was a rare and beautiful experience. Knowing that El Jefe, the jaguar once prowled nearby, out of sight of humans, is a parallel rarity. The thought of Hudbay destroying the Eastern slopes of the mountain range and fouling water and air in the process seems unbearable. So I filmed it with Russ McSpadden operating a drone camera in the summer of 2022. Prayer Run is a document of the event. As Marlinda Francisco says, Respect the land.

Category: Short Doc, Arizona Film.
Themes: Environment, Native American.

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